Oedipus Rex
'' Oedipus the King, also known by its Latin title '''Oedipus Rex', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed about 429 BC. It was the second in order of Sophocles's composition of his three plays dealing with Oedipus. Thematically, however, it was the first in the trilogy's historical chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone. Oedipus the King tells the story of Oedipus, a man who becomes the king of Thebes, whilst in the process unwittingly fulfilling a prophecy that he would kill his father Laius and marry his mother Jocasta. The play is an example of classic tragedy, notably containing an emphasis upon how Oedipus's own faults contribute to his downfall (as opposed to making fate the sole cause). Over the centuries, Oedipus the King has come to be regarded by many as the Greek tragedy par excellence. Tossup Questions # E.R. Dodds claimed that "human happiness is built on an illusion" in an essay about "Misunderstanding" this play. It ends with the advice to "count no mortal happy" until his death, and it opens with a priest giving a speech about an ongoing plague, after which the protagonist announces the return of a man sent to Delphi. At a climactic moment in this play, a messenger is revealed to have once been a (*) shepherd on Mount Cithaeron, where he found a baby which was later raised by Polybus and Merope. It precedes a play set at Colonus in its author's Theban trilogy, and it centers on a man who blinds himself after learning of his true relation to Laius and Jocasta. For 10 points, name this Sophocles play about a man who kills his father and marries his mother. # In one scene in this work, an old slave is summoned from the countryside to testify about a murder, while in another, a king accuses a blind soothsayer of being in league with his brother-in-law. A messenger from Corinth brings the news that Polybus has died in this play, while the title character recalls killing an older man at a crossroads. After the suicide of Jocasta, Creon brings in the two daughters of the newly-blind title character. For 10 points, name this play, in which the title king of Thebes realizes that he has killed his father and married his mother, a work by Sophocles. # In a Roman version of this work, Manto sacrifices animals offstage and the chorus compares the protagonist to Daedalus and Pentheus. It ends with the assertion that no man should consider themselves fortunate until dead. In this work, the main character learns about a certain figure's childhood on Mount Kithaeron, whom the shepherd Polybus nurtured. Previously its main character had removed the gold pins that fastened together his wife's dress. The main action of this play is the interrogation of a messenger, a blind prophet that believes the protagonist will fall, and Creon. This play is the first chronologically in The Theban Cycle, and is followed up with a play set at Colonus. For 10 points, name this Sophocles play about a king of Thebes that marries Jocasta, his own mother. # One character in this work murders a man and his servants at a crossroads in Phocis. That character had been raised by Merope in Corinth after a servant failed to kill him and learns of his lineage while attempting to end a plague. News of the death of Polybus causes the revelation that Tiresias had been correct and the title character of this play is the son of Laius. Creon returns to learn that Jocasta has hanged herself and the title ruler and father of Ismene and Antigone has gouged out his eyes with her brooches. For 10 points, name this tragedy, one of the Theban Plays of Sophocles. # Max Reinhardt revived interest in this play in 1910, and Jean Cocteau collaborated with Stravinsky to create an operatic version of it. Dodds argued that this work illustrates the "desperate insecurity of the human condition" instead of justifying the gods in an essay titled "on misunderstanding" this play. This play begins with people carrying tree branches wrapped in wool, and ends with the Chorus asserting that "mortal man must always look to his ending." The protagonist resolves to die on Mount Cithaeron after talking with a shepherd, and accuses Tiresias of plotting against him with Creon. In this play, the protagonist's desire to know the source of a pestilence afflicting his city eventually leads him to gouge out his eyes. FTP, name this tragedy about a ruler of Thebes who learns that he killed Laius and married his mother, written by Sophocles.